


paper & pen, beat & mic

by rockthecliche



Series: Armageddon Pteradon [3]
Category: Johnny's Entertainment, NewS (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-03
Updated: 2012-02-03
Packaged: 2017-10-30 13:35:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/332292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rockthecliche/pseuds/rockthecliche
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ryo still hates Christmas, but not what Christmas usually brings to him regardless.</p>
            </blockquote>





	paper & pen, beat & mic

**Author's Note:**

> This one doesn’t revolve around the band aspect of it a lot, but that will hopefully change with forthcoming parts.

The basement is filled to max capacity, people crowding in from all sides and angles to get a better view of the stage. What they don’t know is that sitting on the steps of the basement is the best spot in the whole room. Having spent most of his adolescence in this town and being a constant audience member of shows such as the one he’s about to put on, Ryo knows by now that the steps are the prime spot.

But where they find a place to stand or sit to watch isn’t all that important as long as they’re there to watch, period.

He tunes his guitar a little, every so often getting Yamapi’s attention to double-check he’s on key. Next to him, Shige is helping Yamapi set up his drum set, and Massu and Tegoshi are off somewhere, having already cleaned their instruments an hour ago. Koyama is nowhere to be found, but Ryo’s not too worried – Koyama is the most responsible one out of them all, after all.

Sure enough, Koyama hops onto the stage at that moment, grinning at them all. He’s wearing a pair of reindeer antlers, twirling a Santa hat in his hand. “So who’s going to be our Santa?”

“Only if Tegoshi can be the missus,” Yamapi says.

Koyama grins as Tegoshi pops up on stage, wearing a girl’s Santa suit. “Already arranged.”

“You probably should have known better,” Massu says to Yamapi, climbing onto the stage, wearing a pair of antlers himself. At least Yamapi has the decency to look a little dazed.

So the last day before winter break his senior year of college, they play a basement show in which Massu and Koyama are reindeer, Pi is Santa, Tegoshi is Mrs. Claus, and Ryo and Shige are left to keep things somewhat sane.

When Pi shoves a traditional Santa bag over Shige’s head and tries to stuff him entirely in it, Ryo gives up all pretenses.

 

A few hours later, Ryo is cuddled up in bed, thoroughly warmed through with leftover adrenaline from the show, an hour or so of drinking, and Massu pressing tightly against his side. He’s not even that much of a cuddler, actually, but these three things in conjunction must bring out the sap in him or something. He burrows himself towards Massu’s body, drinking in the other’s warmth.

“Are you sure you don’t want to come home with me for break?” Massu asks against his shoulder, tugging Ryo's body closer.

“Yeah, it’s fine. I’d just get in the way,” Ryo replies. “I know how much you miss your family.”

“I guess, but I’m going to miss you, too.”

“Don’t be an idiot, I’m definitely coming for Christmas dinner. It’s just…you know, spending the entire month at your house would be so awkward, especially when…I mean…it’s obvious that we’re…like…together,” Ryo finishes lamely.

Massu looks far too amused for his own good. “Are we? That’s honestly surprising to me.”

“Shut up, you know what I mean,” Ryo swats him then sits up, glaring down at Massu. “I’m just not sure if…you know. It’s one thing for your parents to know that you’re in a relationship, but it’s another to meet your boyfriend and have them think, ‘Oh, this must be the guy that’s fucking my hot and adorable son on a regular basis,’ and stuff.”

The way Massu laughs at that is loud and hard, rolling on to his side and clutching at his stomach. Ryo’s not too happy at the fact that he is _clearly_ laughing at his expense, so he digs his fingers into Massu’s side, making him yelp as he tickles him.

“Ryo, you are thinking way too hard about this,” Massu says in between leftover giggles. “They offered for you to stay the entire time, right? Trust me, they wouldn’t have if they didn’t want you there.”

“That’s beside the point, and it would be awkward! I don’t,” Ryo pauses, sighing in defeat. “I don’t want to seem like I don’t appreciate it, but trust _me_ when I say that I’m really bad around parents. I don’t want them to not like me, and I don’t want to make a bad impression.”

Massu grins. “Well, if they already think of you as ‘the guy that’s sleeping with my hot and adorable son on a regular basis’, then you can’t go anywhere but up, can you?”

“Was that supposed to make me feel better?”

“Not really, no.” Ryo watches Massu sit up, also, coming face to face with him. “Look, you’re really worrying too much. They’ll love you because _I_ do.”

The words make Ryo’s stomach knot itself with a warm glow. “You’re such a sap.”

“One of us has to be,” Massu yawns, plopping back down onto the bed, all the while making imploring eyes at him. “Come to bed?”

“I’ll come all right,” Ryo mutters, allowing himself to fall on top of Massu, who merely chuckles as he slips his arms around Ryo’s neck.

“If only my parents heard that.”

 

The next morning, Tegoshi swings by to pick Massu up. As he and Massu drag a suitcase and a duffel bag to the car, Ryo is – okay, he’s not _fussing_ , just…needlessly worried about this break in seeing each other. It’ll be the longest they’re going to go without having the other around in some shape or form, considering Massu all but moved in over the summer under the pretense of keeping his job throughout the year, but they all knew better than that. Ryo doesn’t like to make a big deal out of it -- out of anything involving relationships in general, really -- but having Massu there and all to himself was one of the best things to have happened. With everyone else gone, he and Massu spent the summer really getting _used_ to each other and how they fit in each other’s lives, meshing together instead of fitting around each other.

It was a really great summer.

Watching Massu drag half his clothing out of the apartment makes Ryo uncomfortable but he doesn’t want to seem needy, so he ends up taking to watching the scenery from the balcony facing the street.

“You’re not going to send me off?” Massu’s voice suddenly pipes up behind him.

“And make a big scene? No,” Ryo snorts. He doesn’t mind when Massu reaches out and slides a warm palm against his hip, though, but he frowns, suddenly a little upset that Massu’s leaving him for an entire month. And then he's just disgusted with himself for being such a _girl_. Seriously, what the fuck?

Massu doesn’t say anything, just tugs Ryo to his chest, pressing their lips together. They kiss for a little while, unhurried and gentle, and when they pull apart, Massu smiles one of his most dazzling smiles at him. It makes Ryo feel marginally better.

“I love you,” Massu murmurs.

Ryo hates that the words always make him a ball of disgusting, gooey sap. “As you should,” he mutters into Massu’s neck. He doesn’t trust himself to say the words back, but Massu will get it nevertheless, and when his arms around him tighten for a few seconds, it’s all the sign he needs to know that yeah…he gets it.

“Can you guys get a room? Think of the children!” Tegoshi calls from the car. Ryo just flips him off as he and Massu disentangle themselves.

“I guess that’s the cue for me to hurry up,” Massu laughs. “I’ll see you for Christmas?”

“Yeah, definitely,” Ryo replies. A quick kiss later and Massu disappears back into the apartment. Ryo can hear the front door open and close, then footsteps working their way down stairs. Massu emerges on the ground in front of the squat building, walking towards Tegoshi and his beat up red Civic. Tegoshi calls out for him to hurry up – Massu turns and looks up, waving to Ryo before opening the door and hopping in. Ryo can somewhat see Tegoshi fiddling with the radio and then the small red car zooms off, leaving a beep of the car’s horn in the air behind it.

Ryo stays on the balcony for a cigarette and thinks that it’s actually kind of funny – the only difference between this Christmas and last Christmas is that at least this year, he has a damn car.

 

Ryo spends the first week of his break writing new songs for the band, but when the lyrics start devolving into things like, _”Santa’s just fat / better off with a cat,”_ he puts his pencil down and gives up.

A week later, “A Not So Silent Raptorific Night” makes its way across the top of the paper as the title, and Ryo has never been more proud of a composition in his life. And that’s not even the handful of 40’s talking.

 

At nine in the morning, Ryo’s phone goes off and the moment he answers it, Koyama’s voice is already jabbering in his ear, going a mile a minute. Ryo dutifully hangs up and flings his phone down onto his bed, rolling over and smushing his face into his pillow.

Approximately thirty-seven seconds later, his phone rings again. “Koyama, at a speed that humans can understand, for the love of – “

“Will you go on a blind double date with me?” Koyama rushes in one breath.

Huh?

Ryo rubs at his eyes and glances at his clock, deciding that it is entirely too early to deal with this shit. “What are you going on about?”

“Ryo, I just need you to come to my house at six, okay? Please? Pretty please? I really need this favor and Yamapi already has plans and Shige just laughed at me for five minutes and I’m actually afraid of what Tegoshi is like on a date and Massu refused to go again so you’re my only hope!”

“What makes you think I’m going to say yes?!”

“Massu already said it was okay with him. I’ll even pay for a tank of gas, Ryo, just _please_ , I can’t do this by myself!”

With the way Koyama’s going on about this date of his, Ryo suspects that Koyama has never actually been on a date before. He has a feeling that this is entirely ludicrous – Koyama may be a little weird, but not so weird as to render him completely unworthy of being dated. But he sounds like it’ll be the end of the world if he doesn’t go, and so as much as he thinks it’s ridiculous to be accompanying him on a double date – a _blind_ double date at that -- Ryo ends up driving two hours to Koyama’s house in the middle of nowhere that night, not quite dressed to impress, but it’ll have to do. It’s not like he had all that much to do otherwise.

“You’re here!” Koyama says the moment he pulls the door open, relief etched in every angle on his face.

“Yes, yes I am,” Ryo says. “So what time does this date start?”

Koyama checks his watch. “We should be leaving in fifteen minutes to pick the girls up.”

“All right. I’m going to call Massu. You owe me one, Koyama.” Ryo toes his shoes off, saying hi to Koyama’s sister as she greets him, offering him some food. He kindly refuses as he digs his phone out of his pocket, choosing to loiter in the foyer of Koyama’s townhouse instead. He doesn’t hear what Koyama says in return as he’s already pushing a few buttons, then putting his phone up to his ear to hear the ringing start.

“Hello?”

“Hey, you,” Ryo grins, even though Massu can’t see it.

“Hey back,” Massu replies. “So I hear you’re going on a date tonight.”

“Yeah, something like it. You’re okay with it, right?” Ryo asks, meandering in the sitting room a little.

“Yeah, it’s fine. I went with Koyama on his annual blind double date two years ago.”

“What’s the deal with that, anyway? Why doesn’t he just say he doesn’t want to go?”

“It’s his mom and grandma. They’re a little obsessed with setting him up with nice, respectable girls,” Massu informs him. “But he put up such a fuss the first few times about going alone that it’s now become something like a tradition for him to go on a blind double date. I think you’re the last one to go with him, though. Now he has the whole band!” Massu sounds chipper as he says this, but Ryo’s not sure if this is kind of cool or overwhelmingly pathetic.

“So on a scale of one to ten, ten being the best night of my life, how good of a time do you think I’ll have?”

“I suppose that depends. What are you wearing? How are you feeling? Have you eaten today? How do you feel about girls that are cute in style but have horse-like features?”

“Jeans and my leather jacket, I’m feeling better now, I had a bagel – and what?” Ryo asks, slightly alarmed.

Massu laughs. “I think you’ll clock in at a 6, max. Just don’t have _too_ much fun, I might get jealous.”

“Idiot,” Ryo says fondly. He shoves his free hand into his jean pocket when he sees Koyama pulling on a jacket, shooting him an inquisitive look. “Hey, I think I have to go.”

“Yeah, sure. Text me if anything interesting happens?”

“You know it.” After a few sappy words that Ryo would never repeat in public ever again, he flips his phone shut and shoves it into his jacket pocket. Koyama is tugging his shoes on, though he smiles at him knowingly when Ryo wanders over to do the same. Ryo is already dark red by the time he has both shoes on.

“You guys are cute.”

Ryo grimaces.

 

Luckily, the date doesn’t last long because, while the girls were respectable, they were a little _too_ respectable. What college-aged kids had a curfew of ten o’clock?!

Though, just as luckily, they didn’t seem very interested in Koyama and were even less interested in Ryo. He suspects it’s because he kept his phone out and was texting Massu and sometimes Yamapi whenever he got a message. While it wasn’t the most courteous display of gentlemanly behavior, Ryo likes to think that it helped speed up the whole date process. Two lattes and a lot of stilted, awkward conversation later and they were parting ways.

Koyama sags in the car on their way back to his house. “At least they weren’t interested. It’s worse when they actually want to pursue something. I don’t know how to let people down at all.”

Ryo shrugs, slouching in his seat. “It’s easy, you just tell them that you’re not interested and you went on the date to appease your mom.”

“You say that like it’s so easy,” Koyama replies, slowing the car down to a stop at a red light. “I think I may be genetically programmed to not be able to say no to people.”

“Please, you say ‘no’ to Shige all the time.”

Koyama grins. “But Shige doesn’t count.” The smile slips and he frowns again, gassing the car along once the light turns green. “Anyway, I just wish my mom would let me take care of my own love life.”

“So get a girlfriend. You’re a decent looking guy, it can’t be that hard.”

“Ryo…was that a compliment?”

“…sort of?”

Koyama gives him an amused look. “Wow. Massu must be rubbing off on you.”

“Shut up and drive.”

 

Ryo winds up staying the night at Koyama’s house because the drive back to his apartment takes two hours and he’s not in any mood to get home at one in the morning. Koyama also insists, citing it as the least he could do in return, and he makes ramen for the both of them when they get back to his house, a skill he picked up from helping out at his mom’s ramen shop during his breaks from college. The ramen is cooked to perfection and Ryo scarfs it down, apparently a lot hungrier than he thought he was. The bed in the guest room molds to his back like it was made for him and when Ryo lays down on it, he barely manages to get his jeans off before falling asleep, clutching a pillow to his chest.

He wakes up in the morning to the smell of bacon and toast in the air and the sun having been up in the sky for hours already. He pours himself into his jeans, scratching his stomach as he ambles to the bathroom. Koyama’s already awake, his voice filtering up to the second floor from the steps, and the woman he’s speaking to must be his mother. They’re talking about the date last night and Ryo decides that it’s probably best if he stakes out in the bathroom for a while to avoid that issue.

Lucky for him, Koyama’s mom leaves soon, having to open up shop. Ryo helps himself to Koyama’s mouthwash and floss and then wanders downstairs and to the kitchen, where Koyama is happily humming a song, tapping out its rhythm on the side of the coffee maker. On the kitchen counter is a wide array of various breakfast food, the sight and smell making Ryo’s mouth water. When the chair Ryo dumps himself in scrapes against the floor, Koyama perks up.

“Good morning! Coffee should be done in a few minutes,” Koyama informs him. He leaves the coffee maker’s side, grabbing a plate from one of the cupboards and beginning to pile eggs, French toast and bacon onto it, placing it in front of Ryo when he’s done. Ryo’s stomach growls, loud.

“Did you make all of this?” Ryo asks.

Koyama shakes his head. “Just the eggs and bacon. My mom made the French toast before she left for work.” The coffee maker stops percolating then. “You like your coffee black, right?”

“Yeah, thanks.” Ryo clasps his hands in his lap, waiting for Koyama to get a plate of food and sit at the table before eating himself. He usually doesn’t feel the need to be so courteous, but Koyama and his family have been nothing but hospitable and admittedly, he would feel like an ass for not at least waiting. A little bit.

“So what are you doing today?” Koyama finally sits down, and his first question is timed right when Ryo is shoveling a forkful of eggs into his mouth. He coughs a little, choking a few pieces down. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine.” Ryo coughs. “And uh, nothing much, really. Going back home.”

“If you want, you can hang out for the day. I have plans tonight with classmates from high school, but maybe you can go to Yamapi’s party tonight instead.”

Ryo is confused. “Yamapi’s having a party?”

“Well, his mom’s having a Christmas party and he sent us all an invitation this morning. Did you check your phone yet today? I’m pretty sure he texted you too…” Koyama grabs his phone from the kitchen counter and taps on it a little. He holds it out to Ryo after a few screens.

“Oh…well, I guess I can do that,” Ryo shrugs.

“It’s better than being alone, right? Plus, Pi only lives ten minutes from my house. I can give you directions. I think Shige’s going, too…Tego and Massu live too far, unfortunately.”

“Whatever, it’s not like I want him to go,” Ryo mumbles.

Koyama just smiles. “I’m sure.”

 

Pi’s party is fun, though, for the sheer fact that neither Ryo or Shige find anything all that special in Christmas, so to say they get a _little_ tipsy is a pretty gross understatement, and even though it’s a pretty bad idea considering how wholesome the entire party is. They end up locking themselves in Yamapi’s bedroom as the Yamashita family concern themselves with being good hosts. Pi stays sober for approximately forty minutes longer until the families with children are gone and when it’s just them, his sister, and his mom, Ryo makes sure he’s not sober for that much longer.

“I’m very, very, very, very, very happy you came, Ryo-chan,” Pi mumbles from the vicinity of Shige’s lap. 

“ _Santa’s just fat / better off with a cat / turn in the welcome mat / hit the intruder with a bat_ ,” Shige mutters to himself as he scribbles in his additions to Ryo’s super awesome faux-Christmas song. 

“Stop fucking with my genius,” Ryo says before settling his head on one of Yamapi’s pillows and falling asleep.

 

There’s an insistent knocking on the door and Ryo stumbles around to get to it while trying to convince the intense throbbing in his head to just chill the fuck out.

Rina is standing there, hands holding a tray with three tall glasses of water and a variety of headache medicine. 

“Santa,” Ryo croaks out.

Rina rolls her eyes. “You guys are such idiots.”

 

Ryo steals a pair of Yamapi’s underwear and hops in the shower after he wolfs down the aspirin and water, tip-toeing around Shige’s sprawled out body. He feels much more human after the shower, even though he’s wearing the same outfit for the third day in a row. Once he’s done, he rifles through Yamapi’s collection of shirts and picks one at random to wear. Then, since the pounding in his head has waned, he spends a few minutes toeing at Shige’s side until he wakes him up. Then he just giggles a lot about it, because Shige is looking less than thrilled.

“What time is it?” Shige mumbles, running his fingers through his hair, making it look even worse.

Ryo checks his phone. “It’s almost one.”

Shige’s eyes widen and he scrambles to get to his feet, except they trip over the pillow he was using and he scrambles to gain his balance. His hangover must have also made itself known as he clutches his head, cursing a little bit. “Tegoshi’s going to kill me.”

“Tegoshi?”

“I’m supposed to meet him at 1:30, but where we’re meeting is kind of far,” Shige explains, tossing his things into his bag. “Plus, my friend dropped me off last night since my car’s in the shop, so I was going to call my mom to come pick me up this morning, go home, then use her car to meet with him.”

Normally, Ryo would let it go because certainly Shige’s incompetence was hilarious and very rarely ever seen, but he felt sort of bad for him. He supposed they shouldn’t have drank that much last night, but – well, it was too late to think about that.

“I’ll give you a lift if you want.”

Shige stares at him like he has eight heads.

“If you don’t want me to, that’s fine, I’ll just stay and cuddle up with Yamapi as he’s unsuspecting,” Ryo shrugs, giving Pi’s ass a pat for good measure. To his benefit, Pi doesn’t even shift a little.

Shige just rolls his eyes. “You two have a really weird gay thing going on if he’s okay with you calling his ass your ‘beloved peach’.”

Ryo grabs his keys, tossing them from hand to hand. “You’re just jealous. So you ready to go or what?”

 

“So now that you’ve seen everyone else’s house but mine, you have to come over,” Tegoshi announces as Ryo and Shige slide into their seats across from him. Ryo actually has no idea that he’s being spoken to until Shige pokes his side, and then he’s just a little puzzled.

“But I haven’t been to everyone’s houses?”

Tegoshi rolls his eyes, holding up his hand, counting off on his fingers. “Kei-chan’s townhouse for his annual double date. Yamapi’s apartment for his family’s Christmas party. Shige’s house so he can get primped and clean for our meeting today. Well,” Tegoshi pauses, tilting his head to the side. “I suppose you haven’t been to Massu’s yet, but a little fairy tells me that you’ll be heading over there for Christmas dinner so it’s just a matter of time.” He picks up his cup of coffee and sips at it, rather pointedly. How Tegoshi can manage to do that, Ryo has no idea, but if anyone would be able to, it would be him. “So you’re coming over for dinner tonight.”

The _“and you’re going to like it”_ isn’t said, but Ryo can feel it in the air.

“Can we just order?” Ryo grumps, flipping open the menu.

It turns out that Tegoshi and Shige were meeting to discuss something about the coming semester, something about a joint project. Ryo has no idea what they’re talking about, and it’s doubly confusing since he has no idea on what sort of platform could a psychology and photography major mix and collaborate, but it’s not his grade, so whatever. Admittedly, Ryo spends most of the meal staring into his coffee, his thoughts drifting off to trivial things such as the pile of laundry in his apartment that really needs doing. As a last resort, he uses Shige’s phone to send Massu a text message, as his died sometime in the night – and perhaps for the better. He’d rather not see what kind of idiotic things he’s sent to people in the duration of the night.

Ryo drops Shige off at his house and borrows a pair of jeans – really, three days in a row is _gross_ \-- and drives the forty minutes to Tegoshi’s house. He’s a little nervous to experience what a typical holiday is like at Tegoshi’s house, but there’s no point in trying to back out of it. Tegoshi gets what he wants even when he’s not actively trying to get it, and that’s what makes him so dangerous.

Tegoshi’s house is a pretty posh estate. It’s not gargantuan or anything, but it sits at the end of a large cul-de-sac with a prim house-front, three car garage and a meticulously kept front yard. It’s a little charming to see Tegoshi’s crappy Civic sitting in the driveway, actually – something to slice through the overwhelming taste of perfect suburban life otherwise.

When he rings the doorbell, the first thing he hears is the pattering of paws on tile, and when the door opens Ryo is instantly mauled by…a toy poodle.

“Skull! Get off of him!” Tegoshi’s voice calls out, making the tiny, yipping puppy cease its actions, at least just long enough for Ryo to get his shoes off and for Tegoshi to close the door and scoop the dog up in his arms. “Sorry, she’s just excitable. She likes new people.”

“…you named a girl dog ‘Skull’?”

Tegoshi beams. “Isn’t it cute?”

‘Cute’ probably isn’t the word Ryo was going for, but he drops the issue.

The house is as nice inside as it is out. The sitting room has high, cathedral ceilings, and it would be a waste of all that space without a chandelier of some sort, wouldn’t it? The lights bounce off the crystal and sends the glow in all different directions, and its magnificence doesn’t wane even when Tegoshi informs him that it’s just glass, not actual crystal or anything fancy. The only other thing in the room is a large, light blue rug, a floor vase with flowers, a three-layered coffee table, and a chaise lounge. Ryo thought only aristocrats had chaise lounges.

“Come on in,” Tegoshi says, leading him into the den.

After Ryo borrows a cell phone charger, they spend a few hours playing video games, then settle down to watch a movie or two. However, as they’re poring over the film choices available On Demand, Ryo’s stomach growls.

“It’s totally past dinner, isn’t it…I wonder where my dad is. Hang on,” Tegoshi gets up and walks away, calling his dad. Ryo can’t hear exactly what’s being said, and he doesn’t pay much attention as he’s flipping through the pages of movies on the TV screen. When Tegoshi comes back into the room, he has the same typical Tegoshi smile, but this one’s a little tight around the eyes.

“What’s up?”

Tegoshi shakes his head. “My dad’s working late, so looks like dinner is up to us.”

“What about your mom?”

“Oh, she’s been on a business trip for weeks. We don’t even really know if she’s coming back for Christmas, so.” Tegoshi moves with purpose, opening a drawer and pulling out a booklet of take-out menus. He waves it in the air a little. “What are you in the mood for?”

Somehow, Ryo gets the feeling that this isn’t the first time this has happened to Tegoshi.

Even sadder, he gets the feeling that this won’t be the last time, either.

Ryo watches Tegoshi for a few moments, rambling on about which Chinese place is good, or maybe they can pick up Sonic or something. After a while, Tegoshi looks up and shoots Ryo a puzzled look.

“Ryo?”

Ryo merely gets up and walks past Tegoshi and straight into the kitchen. He makes a beeline for the shiny silver doors of the fridge and pulls the door open, pleased to see it stocked with food. “Why don’t we just cook anyway?”

“…you know how to cook?”

He turns around, holding up a package of lean ground beef. “I know how to do a lot of things, Tegoshi.”

Granted, cheeseburger pie isn’t exactly the most difficult thing to make in the world, but Ryo calls it his specialty and damn, is it good. Tegoshi may have upstaged him because he made some fancy chicken pasta thing…and some roasted potatoes…and snap peas…but Ryo’s fairly certain that his cheeseburger pie tastes the best. Tegoshi doubles over with laughter when Skull ignores all of Ryo’s attempts to get her to eat it, but what do dogs know about fine cuisine? Nothing.

“Your dog’s palate must be dulled from years of eating your crappy food,” Ryo retorts.

Tegoshi flings a potato at him and it hits him right in the face.

 

When Ryo wakes up the next morning in Tegoshi’s guest room, there’s four messages waiting for him on his cell phone. There’s two from his parents, one from Pi, and one from Massu. He rolls about in bed and opens them in order of importance.

After reading his parents’ Christmas Eve salutations from Australia, he reads Massu’s message apologizing for not being able to respond earlier -- he had a pretty long day and got home later than anticipated. It’s signed with a less-than-three heart and a nice, ‘miss you!’

He pushes the ‘dial’ button and sticks Massu on speakerphone.

It rings for a while but right when Ryo’s about to disconnect, the call goes through and a sleepy sounding, “Hello?” blares over his phone’s speaker. It sounds more like a, “Mrrow?” and it’s hard for him to fight the urge to smile.

“Hey, you.”

“Hey back.” Massu’s voice is thick with sleep, something Ryo finds lethally adorable on the phone and even more deadly in person.

“Sorry for waking you up…I just wanted to – “ Ryo pauses. To what, say hello? Lame. Acknowledge the message? A text message back would have sufficed. Hear your voice? Lame but true. But lame. _So lame._ “…talk.”

Oh yeah. Real smooth.

Massu chuckles, sounding a little more awake. “It’s okay, I don’t mind. How are you?”

“I’m…huh. Actually, I think I’m pretty good,” Ryo replies. “Even if Tegoshi’s dog won’t eat my cheeseburger pie.”

“You tried feeding Skull cheeseburger pie?”

“Damned good cheeseburger pie, I’ll have you know.”

“I believe you!” Massu laughs. “How did you end up making cheeseburger pie?”

So Ryo tells Massu about the night, about going to Tegoshi’s house and playing video games and watching movies. He even tells him about the lunch with Shige and Tegoshi, and Yamapi’s party, and how the double date went with Koyama. Even though it’s been a rather hectic past few days, Ryo can’t help but think it’s already been a lot better than the first half of his break last year. He closes his eyes as Massu tells him about some of the things he’s been up to, mostly work and something about a cooking reality TV show and the everyday tribulations of his sister’s life.

The good thing about Massu’s voice is that it’s absolutely lovely to listen to. The bad thing about Massu’s voice is that it tends to make Ryo sleepy, and when Ryo’s sleepy, the truth often spills out.

“I miss your face,” he mumbles.

“Just my face?”

“And toes.”

“That’s oddly specific.”

“You have cute toes.”

Massu bursts out laughing. “How am I supposed to respond to this?”

“You could say I have cute toes, too.”

“Then I’d just be lying.”

“Hey! I have nice feet!”

“Feet are never nice.”

“But _mine_ are.”

“Feet are gross.”

“Feet are magical.”

“Well.” Massu sounds as if he’s having the worst time holding back his laughter. “I’m glad we cleared that up.”

Ten minutes more of idle chit-chat and Massu falls asleep on him. How he manages to do that, Ryo has no idea, but he takes a page out of Massu’s book and goes back to bed himself. At least, he tries to and is somewhat successful until a giant wave knocks him out of the bed completely. He flies off, garbled yelp amidst the thud and tumble of limbs and pillows. As he’s pulling himself together and picking himself off the floor, he spots Tegoshi rolling about the bed, laughing hysterically.

Ryo slams a pillow into his face. “You’re such a tool.”

 

He figures he would have spent the morning of Christmas Eve hanging out at Tegoshi’s, restraining himself from maiming the other too much, and then he would have spent a nice, leisurely three hours driving back to his apartment so he could sleep and take his time getting ready for Christmas. He suspects he also would have spent the three hours driving back to Massu’s house the next day performing anxious soliloquies about how awkward he’s going to be and how Massu’s family would walk away wondering what the hell Massu saw in this guy who seems to be having affairs with his baseball caps and leather jacket. Instead, Tegoshi helps him think of tactics and strategies to make his presence less awkward than either of them think it will ultimately be. Somewhere along the way, Tegoshi convinces him that going to Massu’s that very day would be for the best – he lives exactly seven minutes away, five if there’s good traffic, and why would Ryo want to waste all that time going back home first? 

All in all, he would have liked more time to prepare himself. It’s too late for that now, though, as he stands on the quaint yellow welcome mat in front of Massu’s front door.

Ryo blames Tegoshi for everything.

He dawdles even though it’s cold outside and his leather jacket is really for show rather than functionality, but his nerves are going haywire as he entertains the idea that he’s meeting Massu’s family for the first time ever. 15% of his nerves are going insane because he gets to actually see Massu for the first time in three weeks. Or maybe 20%. The other 80-85% is knotting themselves in a rather impressive lump in his stomach.

Either way, he’s not going to be able to do anything about them if he doesn't ring the damn doorbell.

As his fingers press the little button, he can't help but think that it would have been more comfortable waiting in his car instead.

In a perfect world, Massu would have opened the door. He may even be wearing a hideous green and red Christmas sweater, but he smiles and simply takes Ryo by the hand and leads him inside the house, introducing him to his parents who are thrilled that Ryo's there. They don't bat an eyelash when Massu openly refers to Ryo as his other half, and his sister graciously thanks him for taking care of Massu when he's away from his family. They give him sugar cookies and milk and compliment his sense of style.

In reality, Massu's sister opens the door and rather directly inquires as to who he is. A woman who Ryo presumes to be Massu's mother peeks over her shoulder, expression confused. Clearly they weren't expecting company today.

Maybe Ryo should have stuck with the singing telegram plan.

"Ryo!" Massu's head pops up beside his mother's shoulder. His mother and sister both step aside to let him through. "What are you doing here? I thought you weren't coming until tomorrow?" Ryo notes that he doesn't sound angry -- actually, he sounds rather pleased, but he does also sound perplexed. His sister's eyes light up when she hears who he is, and Ryo suspects that it isn't in a way that would be to his benefit, either.

"I was at Tegoshi's and you live right here so -- surprise? Merry Christmas?" Ryo grins, although he wants to crawl into a hole in the ground, even if he has to dig it himself.

"Let the boy inside, it's freezing," Massu-mama scolds them all, reaching out and tugging Ryo inside by the sleeve. Massu fidgets a little as he shuts the door behind them all, and now they're just a cluster of people standing awkwardly in the foyer.

Ryo definitely should have stuck with the singing telegram plan.

Massu opens his mouth to say something but closes it last minute, maybe for lack of anything to say. He does, however, smile like an idiot and ducks his head, trying not to look too pleased, and it's so utterly and ridiculously sweet that Ryo turns his attention to the floor, feeling his cheeks burn with embarrassment.

"All right, well," Massu's sister pipes up, almost rolling her eyes at the situation. "This must be what people head over heels in love do. They fidget and surreptitiously glance at each other and try not to look happy. If this is going to last all day, I'm going to need popcorn."

She tromps out of the foyer then, insisting her mother go with her for her aid.

Once they're out of earshot, Massu grins. "Our popcorn's microwaveable."

It's something that's not really relevant to anything at hand, but Ryo finds himself laughing, the nerves dissipating almost completely. It starts as a small chuckle, then somehow grows into a full-fledged laugh, making his eyes crinkle at the corners.

Maybe Massu was right. When you start off making an idiotic first impression, there's no where else to go but up -- and there is something rather freeing about that thought.

Massu's watching him carefully, a look of pseudo-worry on his face. "Ryo...are you okay?"

 

Ryo flops onto the bed in the guest room at the end of the night, sleepy and full of food. Now that he's had the pleasure of eating Massu's family's cooking, he understands pretty well why Massu's somewhat of a bottomless pit.

And that goes for his entire family’s cooking ability because, unbeknownst to Ryo, Tegoshi had forced him to go on Christmas Eve, the day Massu's family had his legion of aunts and uncles and cousins over to share in holiday cheer, potluck style. So not only does Ryo make a complete fool of himself in front of Massu's immediate family, he manages to come face to face with just about everyone in Massu's family, ever.

Tegoshi knew about it and withheld information on purpose, that bastard.

Besides the initial introductions and a few stares here and there, Ryo thinks it went relatively well. Massu has a few cousins that are about their age, so he spends a lot of time hanging out in the basement with them, watching movies and talking music, deflecting questions about his and Massu's relationship easily. It was a good way to pass the time, especially when Massu was called up to help with food or catch up with an uncle he hadn't seen in months. It kind of sucks since it didn't give Ryo much time to actually be with him, and he missed just being able to reach out and touch the other man, even if it's his shoulder or arm, or his head resting on his lap. At least being with those close in age afforded them a bit more leniency.

The bed is soft and it promptly lulls Ryo to doze off, drifting in and out of consciousness. He vaguely entertains the idea of going off to find Massu, but he's too comfortable to do that at this point, and while Massu's parents were very welcoming, they make a point to mention that Ryo could stay in the guest room. He thought it was a little stupid, but said nothing as he didn't want to seem unappreciative of their hospitality.

He doesn't know how long he had been dozing for, but he wakes a little when his bed sinks with added weight, legs moved to the side a little bit. He opens his eyes to find Massu sitting on the bed, an extra pair of basketball shorts on his lap.

"Hey, you." Ryo sits up, yawning a little bit.

"Hey back." He nudges Ryo's knee with his own. "I figured you probably would want to change out of your clothes for bed."

"I was just going to sleep naked, but all right," Ryo jokes. That would be indecent, especially in someone else's house. He would have left his boxers on, at least.

"At least use the shorts when you wake up, in that case." Massu yawns and fidgets a little, getting comfortable, stretching his legs out in front of him. Ryo pokes at his calf a bit. "Today wasn't bad, was it?"

"No, I had fun," Ryo rushes to reassure him. "It was, you know, sort of awkward because I didn't know that your entire family would be here, but your cousins are cool and no one else seemed like they wanted to go all Spanish Inquisition on my ass, so..."

Massu blushes a little at that. "Well, they wouldn't have to _you_ , they hardly know you."

Ryo blanches. He never once considered the very possible reality of Massu's family going to _Massu_ and asking about things. About _them_. Except now that he thinks about it, why _wouldn't_ they ask Massu embarrassing personal questions about his love life? It's practically an unwritten family rule, and probably for all families. Ryo oftentimes forgets that not everyone has a family whose relations are as scattered as they are over the world like he does, and it's kind of a kick to the ass.

"What did they want to know?"

Massu chews on his bottom lip a little; it's what he does when he has to think about something. He also does it to tease Ryo, but he doesn't think that's what he's going for at this moment in time. "Um...just the basics, I guess. How we met, how long we've been dating, what I like about you, if you treat me right." He grins at that, cheeks dimpling. "Don't worry, I told them they should ask that last one to you themselves."

"I think that makes me worry _more_ ," Ryo mutters.

"My parents don't hate you, if it's of any consolation?"

"But do they like me?"

"I haven't heard anything to the contrary."

Ryo wilts a little. "That's not good enough."

"Why are you so obsessed with being liked by my family?" Massu asks. Normally, something like this would instantly prickle Ryo's nerves, making him retort in response, but he's long learned that with Massu, most of what he says is construed the wrong way only if Ryo lets himself interpret it as such. He knows Massu well enough by this point to recognize when he’s truly, genuinely curious behind his words, and this seems to be one of those times.

He pauses and takes a breath. "I'm not obsessed," Ryo starts, then cuts himself off, trying to gather his thoughts. He doesn't think he's being too worried about how Massu's parents view him -- meeting the parents is a really big deal, after all -- but at the end of the day, it's about something more than that.

"It's like this," Ryo starts again, keeping his focus trained on the bedspread. "I really don't care what your parents think of me." When Massu goes to say something in return, he barrels on, cutting him off. "But I care that _you_ care what your parents think of me. Especially when it comes to your mom. And if she happens to dislike me, hate me, whatever, that's a really terrible and stressful position for you to be in, especially since if it were to come down to the two of us, I know I'd probably lose that battle." Ryo contemplates this. "Bad."

"Ryo -- "

"I'm not done." He rubs at his eyes. "Look, your mom and I don't know each other all that well, and that may change, it may not. But we already have one thing in common, and that is ultimately, we both want what's best for you. And wouldn't all of us getting along, no issues, no drama -- wouldn't that be the best for you?"

Massu doesn't say anything for a long while, seemingly pleased with just staring at Ryo like he's grown four heads, and it's almost enough to make Ryo try to bury himself underneath the bed. Instead, he sits there feeling dumb and vulnerable and is actually about to roll over and ignore the world when Massu moves, scooting forward, reaching his fingers out to draw Ryo's face towards his. He kisses him and Ryo responds eagerly, thankful that the monologue didn't just blow up in his face. Massu's fingers glide into his hair, Ryo licks into his mouth -- Ryo may be iffy on what love actually feels like, but he's certain that its taste must be what Massu tastes like.

"I don't know what my parents think, but I do know that my sister thinks you're hot," Massu says once they, rather reluctantly, break apart. There's a bit of a smug tone to his voice, and on anyone else, it would be annoying. But on Massu, it's a kind of cocky-cute that only he could pull off, and Ryo rather likes that look on him.

Ryo rather likes everything about him.

"That's getting along a little _too_ well." Ryo pulls away a little, but keeps a hand on Massu's thigh.

Massu reaches down and laces his fingers with Ryo's. "Also, I was thinking, if you're sticking around for New Year's, too, you're going to need clothes. So we can either go shopping the day after Christmas, or you can borrow some of mine." He beams, bright as sunflowers bathed in sunlight.

Ryo groans and buries his face into Massu's chest, but doesn't say anything. After all, nothing else says _"I love you,"_ quite like letting Massu dress him up however he wants. Despite his inability to actually _say_ the words, he trusts Massu enough to get it, and when he laughs into his ear and says, "It's okay, I'll be gentle," Ryo knows that that's his cue.

Yeah...Massu definitely gets it.


End file.
